Discipline and Desire

This blog jumps around a bit... apologies if it is a confusing!

So I was listening to a sermon by Bill Johnson, and he was speaking about how God's disciplining is never out of anger... God's never gets unhinged and has to vent on his - his wrath was fully satisfied in Jesus on the cross, and when we step into that covering, it is complete & total. God's disciplining is good for us, as he looks to prune things our life so that we become fruitful - you never prune out of anger, but out of the desire to make something more fruitful. Bill connected that to the verse about the vine & the branches, quoted below.

John 15:
⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

I love that line where it says if we are within him, then whatever we ask it will be done. It is similar to a passage in 1 John 5 v14-15, where it says if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. God has been challenging me about the state of my heart... as my heart starts to align to the beat of his heart, my desires and passions align to his. Therefore whatever I ask of him should be for good and His glory, therefore why would he not grant it. Even in the Psalm 37, David speaks about if delighting in the Lord, and He will give us the desire of our hearts.

Oh God, forgive me when I delight in things of this world. May I grow in my desire to meet with you in your sanctuary, marinading in your goodness, in your glory, in your majesty. Oh God, take me deeper.